I’ve posted my slides from my “Introduction to the Yii Framework” presentation that I gave at True North PHP in Toronto, Canada on November 2, 2012. Although the conference organizers had hoped to record all the sessions, that didn’t end up working out. I should also warn you that half, or more than half, of the presentation was me doing a live development of a Yii-based site. All that content is not reflected in the slides. Those caveats aside, here you go…
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I am very happy to say that, after much delay, “The Yii Book: Developing Web Applications Using the Yii PHP Framework”, is now available for sale. The book has its own home at yii.larryullman.com.
Everything you need to know should be on those pages, but the most important information is probably:
- The book is currently in version 0.2, which includes the Introduction and Part 1 (four chapters)
- The book is available in PDF, epub, and mobi formats.
- You can pay using Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Discover, JCB, and Diners Club. (I’ll try to get PayPal integrated soon.)
- I’m going to be continuing to write the book from now until it’s complete, probably in February 2013. I’ll be publishing updates every 2-3 chapters or so. This is my main priority, and with most of the logistics worked out, progress should go faster.
- Whenever you buy the book, you’ll continue to be able to get free updates as they are released, including a revision for Yii version 2.
- The minimum price is $20.00, but you can pay anything you want more than that.
I had a “soft opening” yesterday in order to catch bugs (and I did; lousy bugs). I’m happy to say that 23 orders came since yesterday afternoon, averaging $35.39! My thanks to everyone for their interest in the book and to those that have already ordered.
The question I pose to you is: how much should I charge for the book? There will be a minimum charge (i.e., you cannot pay less than X), but the system will be set to allow readers to pay whatever they want above that. For example, one person has already offered to pay $50 (seriously). And she is the most awesome person in the world. But I’m not going to charge $50. From my perspective, the book is a ton of work, and I have no guarantees of income (especially compared with going the traditional publication route), but I don’t want to gouge readers, either.
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I’m very happy to say that on Wednesday, December 12, 2012, I’ll be speaking to the BostonPHP group in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The title of my speech is “How To Be A Web Developer”. In the speech, I’ll provide a blueprint for how one becomes a Web developer considering the current standards, technologies, and business environment of 2012 and going into 2013. The overarching discussion is on the specific technologies you’ll need to learn and in what order. The role that each technology plays in Web development will be explained, as will some of the issues to watch out for. You’ll also be introduced to some of the applications and other tools that you would be expected to know and use. Towards the end of the presentation, extra time will be given to my favorite PHP framework–Yii–as well as how to get experience and jobs in the Web development field.
For more information, and to indicate your attendance, see this post.
There are two goals for the book. The first is to help readers understand why you do things in certain ways. In other words, I want the reader to fully understand what’s going on behind the scenes so that he or she appreciates the context for whatever bit of code. This big picture approach is what I think is missing among the current documentation. The second goal is to demonstrate common tasks using real-world examples.
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